This invention relates generally to juvenile insurance. More particularly, the present invention provides methods and systems for providing juvenile insurance with a waiver of premium feature.
Juvenile insurance is life insurance that insures the life of a minor or young adult, which is typically purchased by a parent or guardian when the insured is between the ages of about 14 days to about 17 years old. When the insured reaches an age of majority or some time thereafter, policy ownership is transferred to the insured upon which time the insured may elect to continue the policy. Juvenile insurance, particularly of the permanent type of life insurance, typically accumulates a cash value yearly that may be withdrawn or borrowed against, for example, by the insured for a down payment on a first home, to help pay for college, etc., and may guarantee future insurability for additional amounts of insurance. The term “permanent type of life insurance” generally refers to a life insurance policy that is in force throughout an insured's lifetime provided the conditions of the policy are satisfied, such as payment of the premium. Accordingly, juvenile insurance may be given to children as a valuable gift that will continue to be valuable for years after purchase. Juvenile insurance may also be purchased with a waiver of premium rider that, with regard to juvenile life, typically waives premiums upon the death of the payor until the insured reaches an age of majority, which further adds to the value of juvenile insurance.
The premium for juvenile insurance with a premium waiver rider is computed based on the age and/or gender of the payor. The premium for juvenile insurance will therefore vary depending on the age of the payor and will typically be higher for older payors, which makes juvenile insurance less attractive to older payors, such as grandparents, that want to purchase juvenile insurance for the children in their lives. Accordingly, there is a need for juvenile insurance that may be purchased at a premium that does not penalize older payors.
A few computerized systems have been adopted in the art for administering financial products, such as those described in Published United States Patent Application Nos. 2003/0126053, entitled “System and method for pricing of a financial product or service using a waterfall tool”, 2002/028466, entitled “System and method for providing financial planning and advice”, and 2002/0169715, entitled “System and method for administering a financial program involving the collection of payments, U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/692,112 and 09/538,693, published as International PCT Applications Publication Nos. WO 02/35363, entitled “Interactive insurance premium verification system and method”, and WO 01/75557, entitled “Financial product administration system and methods”, respectively, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The systems and methods discussed in the above-identified references do not, however, address and consequently do not overcome the pricing shortcoming associated with juvenile insurance having a waiver of premium rider.